Young star Aish shoulders burden

TALENTED South Australian teenager James Aish will have an interrupted start to the year after undergoing shoulder surgery.

Aish, one of this year's top NAB AFL Draft prospects, had a shoulder reconstruction in December to repair an injury he carried throughout last season.

It will require four-six months of rehabilitation with Aish striving towards being fit for the mid-year NAB AFL Under-18 Championships.

"He had an unstable shoulder which he could have managed throughout the year, but at the end of the day he was going to have to have it done at some stage and we thought it was better to knock it off now," said Michael Ablett, the AIS-AFL Academies development manager.

"He's going to aim to get back to play in the national championships. And with Norwood being a successful club in the SANFL, hopefully he'll be fit for some games there later in the season and be back up and going at the business end of the year."

The 17-year-old jogged for the first time since surgery during the Academy's training session at Whitten Oval last week.

Aish enjoyed an excellent year in 2012, where he impressed for his state at the championships as a bottom-ager and earned All-Australian honours.

He underlined his ability as an important player in Norwood's senior premiership side.

Callum Twomey is a reporter for the AFL website. Follow him on Twitter at @AFL_CalTwomey.